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Lawmakers Who Don’t Understand the Law

by Dinesh
Apologies for the rushed manner of this post. It is difficult to play a game with someone who is willing to cheat. We saw this in 2004 when colluding with terrorists was considered a justifiable move by certain parties. It is even more difficult to play a game with players who don’t understand the rules ... Read More

Vehicles for the Rich

by Dinesh
This piece serves as a gambit to a relatively unpopular budgetary reform that should be pushed through. In Sri Lanka as in the rest of the world the vehicle is a status symbol. It’s role as a status symbol is however more pronounced in Sri Lanka. High duty, petrol costs, and realizable value in the ... Read More

What is Inflation Targeting?

by Dinesh
“Given that Sri Lanka is a twin deficit country, in terms of budget deficit and current account deficit, the chances that Sri Lanka attracting new money at this juncture is very minimal indeed. By increasing interest rates, we will not be able to attract new money or keep the money already invested.” Indrajit Coomaraswamy 02.10.2018 ... Read More

The Rate of Exchange, Capital Flight, and the Central Bank

by Dinesh
The Central Bank (CBSL) exists for the sole purpose of price stability. It’s controls on the financial system and monetary policy exist to maintain price stability. As put forth many times by the Governor, the failing of the CBSL to control inflation is a fireable offence. In this light the following text aims to put ... Read More

Who We Pay for LankaPay

by Dinesh
Full doc.x with images at bottom. Arvind Subramaniam recently made statements in the Central Bank about rebuilding the social contract. He put forth a narrative of reform whereby he called for the building of trust in government institutions. The statements also coincided with the revelation to the general public that cheque payments had been made ... Read More

In Support of Digital Banking

by Dinesh
The Central Bank governor at his recent statement at the Digital Banking summit stated that he felt like a charlatan when asked to speak about technology. He is right. This is not because, as he attributes it, of his recent acquisition of a smartphone but rather due to his regulatory lack of support for digital ... Read More

Independence

by Dinesh
Subject: Independence From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Date: Sunday, June 3, 2018, 5:27:41 PM GMT+5:30 This message contains blocked images. Show images or Always show images Dear Visa and BookMyShow, I write to you following a failure to place a discounted transaction on your site. As you may know, this month Visa cardholders are entitled ... Read More

A License Raj

by Dinesh
Sri Lankan Banking and Finance can be categorised as a license raj. This is not because institutions are regulated by the central bank but rather that the capacity to conduct business is contingent on one obtaining a license. For the NBFI sector, usually understood as the Finance companies, are heavily constrained by this licensing structure. ... Read More

A Lack of a Right of reply to “Right of reply – Rotarian replies to Muttukumaru”

by Dinesh
http://www.dailymirror.lk/149962/Right-of-reply-Rotarian-replies-to-Muttukumaru “Editor’s Note: This correspondence is now closed.” Amrit Muttukumaru, a self-defined public activist who makes it a point to stick it to those who are in power, is prominent within the local papers. He makes allegations. The allegation relevant to this piece of work is that against K.R. Ravindran. Muttukumara alleges that K. R. ... Read More

Banking in Sri Lanka

by Dinesh
“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.” – Bob Hope Banking in Sri Lanka is lending to a person only if it results in that person being worse off. I recently got rejected for a loan, for the purchase of a government security, ... Read More